Levelizer for road maintaining apparatus



Feb. 15, 1938. LE GRAND H, LULL 2,108,541 4 LEVELIZBR FOR ROADMAINTAINING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l 0 ll l I 7 WFeb. 15, 1938. LE GRAND H. u| 2,108,541

Q LEVELIZER FOR ROAD MAINTAINING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.13, 1937 I'E'III'IIIIIIIII I IIK III 1 Feb. 15, 1938. LE GRAND H. LULL vLEVELIZER FOR ROAD MAINTAINING APPARATUS' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb.13, 1937 Patented Feb. 15, 1938 LEVELIZER FOR ROAD MAINTAINING APPARATUSLe Grand H. Lull,

Minneapolis, Minn.

Application February 13,1937, Serial No. 125,570

9 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in Vibration eliminators for roadmaintaining apparatus, and is designed for attachment to the mold boardor other road engaging device of a maintenance machine to hold the sameon an even plane when in operation. The present construction is animprovement of my former construction, disclosed in Patent 1,968,412,issued on July 31, 1934.

In my former patent, I outlined the advantages of providing a chattereliminating device for attachment to scraper blades and the like. Thedevice in general comprises a means such as a shoe or rolling deviceadapted to ride over the surface of the ground in the rear of the blade.This means is adjustably connected to the blade, and acts in a mannersimilar to the heel of a plane, holding the blade at a desired heightwith respect to the surface of the ground to the rear of the blade. Withthis arrangement, the blade cannot ride over the surface of an unevenroad, but will cut through the higher spots of the ground, and pass overthe lower spots of the ground, permitting earth to drop beneath theblade to fill up these lower spots. As the ground to the rear of theblade is substantially leveled by the blade, the chatter eliminatingdevice is maintained on a substantially'even plane at all times.

While my device as outlined in my previous patent has been verysatisfactory in accomplishing the desired purpose, it has been founddesirable to change the construction somewhat, to make the device morereadily adaptable for nu- 5 merous uses, and to make the same readilyadjustable to meet various conditions. It has also been desirable toprovide a spring mounting arrangement to provide a means of providing aconstant'pressure of the shoe or rolling device upon the surface of theground, and to provide a means of relieving excess pressure. 7 It is apurpose of my present invention to provide a means of adjusting theconnection between the mold board or other road working device, and thevertical pivot permitting the vibration eliminating device to travel inthe direction of movement of the vehicle supporting the mold boardregardless of the angularity of the mold board. This adjustment permitsthe operator to keep the aforementioned pivot extending verticallyregardless of the position of the mold board or other device to which itis attached.

:It' is a further object of my invention to provide an adjustable springmounting, whereby the shoe; or rollingdevice may be urged with aconstant tension into engagement with the surface of the ground. Thissame means provides a means of relieving excessive upward pressure uponthe shoe, permitting the shoe or rolling device topivot over anobstruction in the road or 5 ground which, for some reason, has not beenleveled off by the road working device.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide a means of lockingthe vibration eliminating device in adjusted position, so that thedevice will not change adjustment during its travel over the surface ofthe ground. It is also a purpose of my invention to provide a resilientmeans of support- 7 ing the shoe in adjusted angular relation with thesupporting bracket therefor, so that the shoe will not tilt excessivelywhen lifted from contact with the ground, and accordingly engage thesurface of the ground first with one end thereof when lowered. It may beseen that injury to the shoe or bracket, or at least to the surface ofthe H earth over which the device travels, might well occur if the shoetilted forwardly when lifted and dug into the surface of the ground whenlowered.

It is also my object to provide a shoe formed of extremely hard materialto withstand a maximum amount of wear. This shoe is provided withstrengthening ribs of a tougher material, which preventbreakage of themore brittle body portion thereof.

These and other features of my improved device will be more clearly andfully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification: 35

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my vibration eliminating deviceattached to the mold board of a road maintaining device, disclosing thegeneral construction thereof.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of my device, illustrating the relationshipof the various parts thereof. 7

Figure 3 is a side elevation view of my vibration eliminating device.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through the road engaging shoe, onthe line 4-4 of Figure 3, showing a partial end View of my vibrationeliminating device.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view through a portion of my device, takenon the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the vertical pivot between themounting bracket and the shoe supporting arms, on the line 66 of Figure3.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view through the 55 connection between theground engaging shoe and the mounting arms, on the line '|--7 of Figure2.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken longitudinally through themounting bracket and the attachment of the arms therewith, taken on theline 8-8 of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the road engaging shoe, illustratingthe guiding ribs thereon.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through a portion ofthe road engaging shoe.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the portion of the bracket mountedupon the mold board or other road working device.

Figure 12 discloses a cooperating portion of the bracket, inperspective, this portion being pivotally and adjustably connected tothe bracket portion illustrated in Figure 11.

Figure 13 discloses in perspective a portion of a pivoted bracket forsupporting the arms connected to the shoe or rolling device, thisportion being pivoted to the bracket of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the other portion of the pivotedbracket shown in Figure 13, which is normally pivotally and resilientlyconnected to the bracket of Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a side elevation view of my device provided with a roadengaging rolling device in place of a shoe.

Figure 16 is a plan view of my device, partially in section, and takenon the line |6|6 of Figure 15.

Figure 1'7 is a cross-sectional view through the road engaging rollingdevice, taken on the line of Figure 16.

My vibration eliminating device A is designed for attachment to a groundworking device, such as the mold board or scraper B. My device Acomprises, in general, a mounting bracket C, a road engaging shoe D orrolling device E, and a connecting apparatus between the shoe D ordevice E and the mounting bracket C, which may be indicated generally bythe letter F, or F when used in connection with the rolling device E.

The mounting bracket C includes a bracket portion H) which is designedto be attached to the ground working device such as the mold board B byany suitable means such as bolts II. This bracket may perhaps be bestseen in Figure 11 of the drawings. The bracket |El comprises a baseplate I 2, arcuated to fit the mold board B, and having bolt openings l3therein to accommodate the bolts Substantially triangular flanges |4project from the base plate I2; and at the apex of the flanges, at thebottom of the bracket l0, these flanges are drilled at |5 to providealigned openings. A pair of spaced projections l6 are provided on thebase plate l2 intermediate the flanges l4; and these projections arelikewise drilled at IS in alignment with the openings in the flanges M.

A pair of arcuated guides IT project from the top edge of the base platel2, these guides I! having as the center or curvature, the axis of thedrilled openings I5. The arcuated guides I! are each provided with apair of longitudinal grooves l9, and are provided with a series ofangularly spaced adjustment openings 26 radially extending through theguides I! between the grooves l9.

The bracket portion 2| cooperates with the portion ID. The bracket 2|comprises an upper guide portion 22, and a lower pivot portion 23,connected by an integral connecting bar 24. The upper guide portion 22is arcuated to conform with the arcuation of the arcuated guides IQ ofthe portion l0, and is provided with a forwardly extending projection25. The lower pivot portion 23 is provided with journals 26 spaced oneither side of the bar 24. Pivot openings 27 extend through the journals26 and the bar 24. A forwardly extending projecting portion 23 connectsthe journals 26 to the bar 24; and aligned openings 28 are providedthrough the projecting portion 29 and the forwardly extending projection25 on the upper guide portion 22.

A pivot 30 extends through the openings l5 in the bracket Ill and thealigned openings 2! in the bracket portion 2| when these portions areplaced in interlocking relationship, the bar 24 extending between theforwardly extending projections l6; and the journals 26 extendingbetween these projections l6 and the adjacent flange l4. Openings 3| areprovided in the upper guide portion 22, cooperable with the openings 2|]in the guides l1, and bolts 32 extend through desired openings 26 and 3|to hold the bracket portions l and 2| in desired adjusted relationship.

A bracket portion 33 is pivotally connected to the bracket' portion 2|.The bracket 33 comprises a vertical journal or bearing 34 which isadapted to rest upon the projecting portion 29 of the bracket 2|, and isnotched at 35 to accommodate the forwardly projecting portion 25 on thebracket 2|. A vertical pivot 36, or king pin, extends through thevertical journal 34 and through the aligned openings 28 in theprojections 25 and 29. This pivot 36 is provided with a head 31 and isheld in place by a clamp 39 bolted to the bracket 33.

The bracket portion 33 is shown in perspective in Figure 13 of thedrawings, and is provided with transversely extending flanges 4|]. Ayoke 4| is provided at the top of the portion 33, having transverselyaligned openings 42 therein. A reinforcing rib 43 is provided centrallywith respect to the flanges 49 and the yoke 4|.

The bracket portion 44 is designed to pivotally connect with the portion33, and is seen in Figure 14 of the drawings. The bracket 44 is providedwith a pair of transversely extending flanges 45 cooperable with theflanges 40, and is centrally slotted at 46 to accommodate the centralreinforcing rib 43 on the portion 33. The bracket 44 is provided with abifurcated upper end 4'! and a bifurcated lower end 49. A pivot extendsthrough the bifurcated upper end 41, through the aligned openings 42 inthe yoke 4|, and through the upper extremity of a threaded rod 5|forming a part of the connecting mechanism F. Bolts 52 extend throughcooperating openings 53 in the brackets 33 and 44, and coil springs 54are positioned on the bolts 52 between adjusting nuts 55 on the bolts 52and the flanges 45. The flanges 45 and 46 are by this means resilientlyheld together by adjustable spring tension, thus holding the bracketportions 33 and 44 pivoted together.

The connecting apparatus F including a tubular member 56 which ispivotally connected to the bracket 44 by a pivot 51 extending throughthe lower bifurcated end 49 of this bracket and through the upperflattened extremity 59 of the tubular member 56. An attaching flange 65substantially normal to the axis of the tubular member 56 is formed onthe lower end of the tubular member 55, cooperable with a clamping plate6| bolted thereto, to provide a bearing for a pivot 62 on the mountingportion 63 of the road engaging shoe D. Spaced ears 64 extendingupwardly from this lower extremity of the tubular member 3 44 and 33.

56' having aligned openings'therethrough to accoinmodate a pivot 65.

A sleeve 66 is threadably connected to the threaded rod 5| pivoted atthe top of the brackets This sleeve 66 is secured by a swivel connection61 to an endmember 69 pivoted between the ears 64 on the pivot 65. Ahand wheel lllis provided on the sleeve 66 by means of which the sleevemay be rotated, to increase or decrease the distance between the pivots59 and 65. The lower extremity of the sleeve 66 is provided with anintegral'collar ll having angularly spaced notches 12 therein. AU-shaped rod 13 is journalledin ears i l on the end member 69, and isnormally held in one of the notches 12 by the spring 75. The rod 13 maybe slid out of engagement with the notches I2, compressing the spring15, when it is desired to rotate the sleeve 66. The sleeve 66 isotherwise locked by this rod [3,

' against rotation.

The road engaging shoe D includes a mounting portion or plate 63, havingtransversely spaced upwardly extending flanges 16 thereon, through whichthe pivot 62 extends to hold the shoe D pivotally engaged with respectto the lower extremity of the tubular member 56. The road contactingrunner i1 is secured tothe mounting plate 63 by means of bolts 19. Themember 11 is formed preferably of extremely hard material, with aBrinell test of 385 or harder. The runner 'i'l is cast, as illustratedin Figures 4 and 10, with longitudinallyarranged inserts 80 of steel orthe like, to provide greater strength. These inserts are placed inspaced relation and extend the greater portion of the length of therunner 11. The lower surface of the runner H is equipped with oppositelydisposed flanges 8| tapering inwardly from the extreme end of the runneralong the opposite edges thereof. 'These flanges 8| have a tendency todraw material inwardly from both sides of the runner, holding the runnerin alignment with the direction of travel.

A threaded rod 82 is pivoted to the flange 16 on one side of themounting plate 63, and extends through an car 83 on one side of the endmember 69. A coil spring 94 is interposed between the ear 83 and the nut85 on the end of the rod 82 holding the road engaging member D normallyin substantially horizontal position.

Thus when the road engaging member D is raised out of contact with theground, the runner I1 will be held from tilting to any extent. Anydanger of the forward end of the runner 11 engaging and digging into theground as the runner ii is lowered is in this manner obviated.

Figures 15, 16 and 17 disclose a different type of ground engagingmember E which is in the form of a pair of wheels, arranged in tandemwithin a suitable frame. The brackets 2|, 33' and M are entirelyidentical to the brackets l9, 2!, 33, and 44 previously described. Inorder to avoid confusion, the parts of the modification A which areidentical to elements of the vibration eliminator A will be identifiedby similar numerals with a prime mark added to the numeral. Elementswhich are different in construction will be given an entirely differentnumber.

The connecting apparatus F used to connect the road engaging element Ewith the brackets 33 and M is somewhat different from that employed inthe eliminator A.

The road engaging element E comprises a pair of wheels 86 freelyrotatable on shafts 81 between a pair of longitudinally extending framemembers 139'. The shafts Blare held clamped by clamping means SU at eachend of the frame members 89. Centrally pivoted to a shaft 9| between theends of the frame members 89, Iprovide a bifurcated end 92 of a bracket93 in the form of a bell crank. The other end 94 of this bracket 93 ispivotally connected by a pivot 95 on either side'of the lower bifurcatedend 49' of tubular sleeve 66 which is threadably engaged in a threadedrod or arm which is connected by a pivot 50" in a yoke 4| of the bracket44. Alocking means 1!, 12 I3, 14, 15 similar to that previouslydescribed normally locks the sleeve 66 from rotation.

' 'Iheoperation of the device is believed. understood from theforegoingdescription. The hand wheel or 19 on the sleeve 66 or 66' may beoperated, when the sleevelocking rod 13 is retracted, to urge the roadengaging member D or E into contact with the ground with more or less'tension. The ground engaging member is drawn along the comparativelysmooth surface of the ground behind the scraper blade, holding the bladefrom raising'or lowering to ride over the surface of the ground. Ifnecessary,- the springs 54 or 54 will compress to permit the groundengaging member to -pass over some obstruction; but the springs 54 or 54are sufficiently heavy to normally hold the mold board B in a desiredposition with relation to the ground engagingmemberD or E.

It is, in some instances, desirable to hold the vibration eliminator Aor A' in a definite angularity with respect to the mold board B or otherground working apparatus. This may be accomplished, as shown in Figure1, by means of a telescopic rod 91 engaging an ear 99, on the tubularmember 56 or the bracket93, at one end and engaging an ear I99 on themold board B at the other end. The rod 91 is variable in length, andholds the device A in desired angular relation with respect to the moldboard B.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof operation of my vibration eliminator; and while I have endeavored toset forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understoodthat this is only illustrative of a means of carrying out my invention;and that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the followingclaims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

7 I claim:

1. A vibration eliminator for earth working apparatus including abracket portion attached to the earth working apparatus, a secondbracket portion pivotally connected to said first bracket portion alonga substantially horizontal axis and angular-1y adjustable with respectto said first bracket portion, an arm, means pivotally connecting saidarm to said second bracket portion, a runner pivotally connected to saidarm, and means for pivoting said arm to force said shoe into engagementwith the surface of the ground.

2. A vibration eliminator for i ad maintenance machines includingbracket means attached to the machine, a second bracket pivoted to saidbracket means along a substantially vertical axis, a third bracketpivoted to said second bracket along a substantially horizontal axis,resilient means holding said second and third brackets from relativepivoting, an arm pivotally connected to said third bracket at a pointspaced from said pivotal connection with said second bracket, a roadengaging member pivotally connected to said arm, and means for pivotingsaid arm to urge said road engaging member into engagement with thesurface of the ground.

3. A vibration eliminator for scraper blades and the like including abracket means attached to the blade, a second bracket pivoted along asubstantially horizontal axis to the top of said bracket means,resilient means holding said bracket and bracket means from relativepivotal movement, an arm pivotally connected to the bottom of saidsecond bracket, a ground engaging member pivotally connected to saidarm, and

means for pivoting said arm to force the ground engaging member intocontact with the ground.

4. A vibration eliminator for road maintenance machinery including amounting bracket adapted to be connected to a scraper blade or the like,a ground engaging element, a pair of rigid connecting means pivotallyconnected to said ground engaging element and to said bracket, andresilient means normally holding said connecting means from pivotalmovement with respect to said bracket.

5. A vibration eliminator for road maintenance machinery including abracket adapted to be attached to a scraper blade or the like, a secondbracket pivotally connected to said first bracket along a substantiallyhorizontal axis means connecting said first and second brackets to holdthe same in desired angular adjustment, a third bracket pivotallyconnected to said second bracket along a substantially vertical axis, aroad engaging element, and connecting means connecting said roadengaging element in adjusted relation to said third bracket.

6. A vibration eliminator for a road working device movable along thesurface of the ground including a mounting bracket adapted to beattached to said device, a road engaging element, an arm pivotallyconnected to said road engaging element and to said mounting bracket, a

threaded member connected pivotally to said bracket at a point spacedfrom the point of at tachment of said arm, a sleeve threadablyengageable with said threaded member, an end member pivotally connectedto said arm near its point of attachment with said ground engagingmember, anda swivel connection between said end member and said sleeve,whereby said sleeve may be rotated to vary the distance between theconnection of said threaded member to said mounting bracket and theconnection of said end member to said arm.

7. A vibration eliminator for road working apparatus movable along theground including a. mounting bracket adapted for attachment with saidapparatus, a road engaging element, an arm pivotally connected to saidroad engaging element and to said mounting bracket, and means forpivoting said arm on said bracket including a threaded member pivoted tosaid bracket at a point spaced from the pivotal connection with saidarm, a sleeve threadably connected to said threaded member, an endmember pivotally connected to said arm at a point spaced from thepivotal connection of said arm to said mounting bracket, a swivelconnection between said end member and said sleeve, and locking meansinterposed between said end member and said sleeve for normally holdingsaid elements from relative rotation.

8. A vibration eliminator for a road working device movable along theground including a bracket adapted for attachment with said device, asecond bracket pivoted to said first bracket along a substantiallyvertical axis, a road engaging member, means connecting said roadengaging member to said second bracket, and means connecting saidconnecting means to said device at a point spaced from the attachment ofsaid bracket thereto to hold said road engaging member in definiteangular relationship with respect to said device.

9. A road engaging element adapted to be drawn along the surface of theground including an elongated body, an upturned end on said body, and apair of longitudinally extending ribs on the ground engaging surface ofsaid body, said ribs extending inwardly from said upturned end towardthe other end of said body and toward the longitudinal center of saidbody.

LE GRAND H. LULL.

